Comparison

RedShelf vs CState Cares

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

RedShelf

Access and read your digital textbooks on any device. Highlight text, take notes, create flashcards, and have content read aloud. Your notes and highlights sync across all your devices.

Highlights
  • Access textbooks on any device
  • Highlight text and take notes
  • Create flashcards from content
  • Define unfamiliar words
  • Text-to-speech functionality
  • Sync notes and highlights across devices
Features
Read full description

The RedShelf eReader companion app provides access to read and engage with your textbooks located in your RedShelf account on the My Shelf page. Access your textbooks no matter where you go with a unified experience across mobile, tablet, and desktop devices. eReader Features: - Access textbooks on your device for seamless reading - Easily highlight text, take notes, and share with classmates - Create flashcards while reading to test your understanding of the content - Define unfamiliar words quickly and easily - Have text read aloud and select the voice and pace - Sync all of your notes and highlights to your account and across devices App Requirements: - Active RedShelf account - One or more books available in your RedShelf account

About

CState Cares

This app offers guidance for supporting individuals facing mental health challenges, including suicide prevention. It features a "My Support Network" for quick contact access and centralizes campus and community resources, including crisis hotlines. The goal is to better prepare users to help themselves or others.

Highlights
  • Mental health support guidance
  • Suicide prevention information
  • Customizable support network
  • Quick contact access
  • Campus and community resources
  • Crisis hotline access
Read full description

Cincinnati State's Reach Out app provides guidance for supporting a friend in need, suicide prevention, or coping with mental health challenges. With the “My Support Network” function, users can create a customized collection of just those contacts they especially want to quickly access and reach out to by phone or text during difficult times. Reach Out also provides easy and centralized access to potentially life-saving resources and services offered on campus and in the community, including crisis hotlines. The Reach Out app is designed for students, parents, friends of students, faculty and staff of Cincinnati State Technical Community College, located in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Reach Out app better prepares people to help a friend, loved one or themselves.

Screenshots

RedShelf4 screens
CState Cares4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: CState Cares at 5.0 against RedShelf's 4.5. RedShelf's advantage is update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 23 months) and ratings volume (7.1K vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

CState Cares holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: RedShelf has 7.1K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

RedShelf ships an update every 5 weeks, CState Cares every 23 months. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
RedShelf versus CState Cares: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRedShelfCState Cares
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (7.1K ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews3.1% of reviews—
Number of ratings7.1K — better1
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeks — betterEvery 23 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS16.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size26 MB3 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperRedShelfThe Lakeland Foundation

Customer experience

RedShelf

All ratings7,078 ratings
Positive88.5%
Neutral2.1%
Negative9.4%
Written reviews228 reviews
Positive3.1%
Neutral4.4%
Negative92.5%

CState Cares

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

RedShelf

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Books not loading or showing blank screens
  • Highlighting issues (selecting wrong text, unable to edit)
  • Sync issues between devices and web version

Requested features

4 requests
  • Improve highlighting and annotation tools
  • Add support for split-screen mode
  • Enhance text-to-speech capabilities
  • Allow offline access to downloaded books

CState Cares

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

RedShelf

No in-app purchases

None

CState Cares

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is RedShelf free?
RedShelf is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is CState Cares free?
CState Cares is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, RedShelf or CState Cares?
CState Cares is rated higher. RedShelf averages 4.5 out of 5 from 7.1K ratings, while CState Cares averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do RedShelf or CState Cares have ads?
Neither RedShelf nor CState Cares shows ads.
Which is updated more often, RedShelf or CState Cares?
RedShelf ships an update every 5 weeks, and CState Cares every 23 months. Most recently, RedShelf was updated on October 21, 2026 and CState Cares on October 11, 2026.

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